1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a vertical fluid power transmission comprising: a crankshaft of an engine, the crankshaft having an axis in a vertical direction; an output shaft having an axis in a vertical direction; and a torque converter which has an axis in a vertical direction, and is disposed between the crankshaft and the output shaft; the torque converter including a pump impeller connected to the crankshaft, a turbine runner connected to the output shaft so as to be opposed to the pump impeller, a stator arranged between the pump impeller and the turbine runner, and a circulation circuit of a power transmission oil, the circuit being defined between the pump impeller, turbine runner and stator. The present invention also relates to an improvement of an outboard engine system equipped with the above-described vertical fluid power transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a vertical fluid power transmission is already known as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,600.
In the vertical fluid power transmission disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,600, an oil reservoir is formed in a lower portion of a circulation circuit of a torque converter so as to supply a working oil utilizing centrifugal force, and the torque converter is of a sealed-type. Therefore, the torque converter has an increased size due to the inner oil reservoir. Further, because the torque converter is the sealed-type, the working oil in the circulation circuit disadvantageously obtains a poor cooling and thus is easy to be deteriorated.